Waler bracket



F. E BUYKEN WALER BRACKET Aug. 19, 1969 Filed Oct. 11, 1967 3,462,107 WALER BRACKET Frank E. Buyken, 1517 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, Wash. 98144 Filed Oct. 11, 1967, Ser. N0. 674,603 Int. Cl. A47h l/10; E04g 11/06, 17/06 US. Cl. 248-205 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A waler bracket including a generally flat ledge member for receiving a waler, a depending plate member joined to the inner end of the ledge member, an upstanding wall member independent of the ledge member and disposed adjacent the outer end thereof, an arm member connecting the plate member and the upstanding wall member and a keyhole slot in the plate member to receive the head of a tie-rod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to the art of concrete construction and, more particularly, to an improved bracket for supporting and pressing a waler against a concrete-form panel.

Description of the prior art In the concrete construction field it is common to employ walers to bolster or reinforce concrete-form panels to prevent them from bulging, blowing or breaking under the force of the fluid concrete which such panels retain until it is set. The walers are normally supported by brackets, such as those shown in co-pending US. application Ser. No. 471,226, fi led July 12, 1965, now US. Patent No. 3,347,510.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved waler bracket adapted to engage and be supported by the headed outer end of a tie-rod passing through a concrete-form panel and, in turn, to tense such tie-rod and support and press a waler against such panel. Another object of this invention is the provision of a waler bracket of the type described above which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and to use.

The foregoing and other objects have been realized by the waler bracket of the present invention which includes a waler supporting ledge member, a depending plate joined to the inner end of the ledge member and forming substantially a right angle therewith, an outwardly located, upstanding waler-engaging wall member independent of the ledge member adjacent the outer end thereof, and a flexible arm member connecting the wall member and the depending plate and biasing the wall member against .a waler supported on the ledge member. Inverted keyhole slots are provided in the depending plate and in a downwardly depending lip at the outer end of the ledge member, whereby the head of either a long or short type tierod may be engaged to support the bracket. When the bracket is positioned to engage a tie-rod head passing through a concrete-form panel, and a waler is forced between the panel and the then canted, upstanding wall member of the bracket, the tie-rod will be placed in tension and the wall member will press the waler against the panel to bolster or reinforce the form.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more apparent during the course of the following description in which is set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention.

3,462,107 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION. OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, a waler bracket 8, constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, is shown supporting and pressing a waler 10 against a concrete-form panel 12. Waler bracket -8 comprises a generally flat ledge member 14 for supporting the waler, a depending plate 16 integrally joined to the inner end of the ledge member (i.e. the end which lies adjacent the panel 12 in use), an upstanding wall member 18 independent of the ledge member and disposed at the outer end thereof for bearing against the outer face 20 of waler 10, and an arm member 22 flexibly connected between the lower ends of the dependingplate 16 and the wall member 18 for canting and biasing the wall member toward the concrete-form panel 12. The flexible connection arm 22 includes an outwardly extending portion 24, an upwardly extending portion 26 and an inwardly extending portion 28 which normally extends slightly above and inward of the outer end 30 of the ledge member 14. An outwardly flaring lip 32 is provided on the upper end of the upstanding wall 18 for facilitating insertion of a waler 10 between wall 18 and panel 12.

An inverted keyhole slot 36 is provided in the depending plate 16. A second inverted keyhole slot or notch 38 is provided in a downwardly depending lip 40 at the outer end 30 of ledge member 14.

When the bracket 8 is to be employed in conjunction with a long type tie-rod 42 (e.g. circa 4% inches in length), the tie-rod shank 44 will pass through the slot 36 in the plate 16, and slot or notch 38 in the lip 40 will engage the tie-rod head 46. As illustrated in phantom lines in FIG. 1, where a short-type tie-rod shank (e.g. circa 11 inches long), is employed, the keyhole slot 36 will engage its head 48 and be supported thereby. The tie-rod has a washer 50 mounted on its shank end for bearing on the form inner face, to close aperture 52 and to prevent the tie-rod from being pulled forwardly (to the right in FIG. 1) through aperture 52 in the concrete-form panel 12 through which the rod extends.

Typically, the waler 10 comprises a two-by-four timber of construction grade lumber (circa 1% inches x 3% inches); the concrete form panel 12 is plywood approximately inch in thickness; and the tie-rod (Whether of the long or short type) is formed of steel bar stock approximately inch in diameter.

In operation, forming carpenters insert the ends of tierods 42 through a series of aligned holes 52 in a concreteform panel 12. They then engage a waler bracket 8 over each rod head 46 or 48. They next insert and force an elongated waler 10 between the outside of panel 12 and the upstanding bracket wall 18, the outwardly curved lip 32 on the wall facilitating such insertion. Inwardly biased wall 18 will then press the waler against the panel to bolster it and prevent it from bowing or fracturing under the force of the fluid concrete (not shown) which the form may contain. In addition, the wedging action of the waler between the panel 12 and the bracket wall 18 will tend to force the flexible arm 22 and the plate 16 to pivot (in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1) about the fulcrum line 54, thereby tensing the tie-rod and further tightening the assembly.

When concrete in the form sets, the bracket-waler structure may be easily disassembled by simply striking an up- 3 ward blow at or near the fulcrum line 54 to move the bracket and its inverted keyhole slot 38 upwardly until the enlarged portion thereof registers with the tie-rod head 46. The bracket may then he slipped off the tie-rod and reused.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A waler bracket, comprising:

a ledge member adapted to receive and support a waler,

and having an inner end and an outer end;

a depending plate joined to said inner end of said ledge member and adapted to lie against a concrete form; said depending plate being generally normal to said ledge member, a second plate depending from the outer end of said ledge member having a slot adapted to be engaged by a tie-rod;

an upstanding wall independent of said ledge member and disposed adjacent said outer end thereof for bearing on the outer face of a waler supported on said ledge member, the waler-bearing face of said upstanding wall being spaced from the inner end of said ledge member a distance less than the width of a waler; and

resilient connecting means between said upstanding wall and the lower end of said depending plate and biasing said wall toward the inner end of said ledge member.

2 A waler bracket according toclaim 1, and fprther comprising means on said waler bracket fo'r'engagin g a headed tie-rod so as to be held thereby juxtaposed to a concrete form against which a waler supported on said ledge member will bear. r

3. A waler bracket according to claim 2, wherein said means for engaging a headed tie-rod comprises apertured means on said depending plate.

4. A waler bracket according to claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises a curved, flexible-arm member having one end resiliently joined to a lower portion of said depending plate and the other end resiliently joined to the lower end of said upstanding wall.

References Cited Buyken 24 820 5 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

